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Two Tacoma officers drove to the 6700 block of South Park Avenue and checked. They heard a voice — it sounded like something between howling and meowing — drifting from the north end of the field behind the school.

In the flashlit dark, they found a man flopped on a boulder, his black sweatshirt pulled up to his neck. He howled at the sky, patted his head and rubbed his stomach.

In the flashlit dark, they found a man flopped on a boulder, his black sweatshirt pulled up to his neck. He howled at the sky, patted his head and rubbed his stomach.

Officers tried talking to him. He ignored them and howled on. They called for medical aid, suspecting drugs.

One officer finally asked whether the man would have to be handcuffed.

The man reacted instantly, turning his face.

“Yeah,” he said.

Asked for his name, he gave it. He said he’d been smoking weed.

How long had he been sprawled on this boulder?

The man guessed five hours.

A records check confirmed the man’s name and his age: 39. A medical team from the Tacoma Fire Department arrived, looked the man over and found nothing wrong with him.

The records check also revealed a prior warrant from the state Department of Corrections; the man was under community supervision. Officers booked him into the Nisqually Tribal Jail.

Aug. 7: When lying to the cops, it helps to have friends who don’t blow it.

The Tacoma officer spotted what looked like a possible domestic violence situation on the street — a man and a woman, arguing. The woman was crouched with her head down. The man stood over her, shouting.

The officer pulled into a parking lot in the 9400 block of Pacific Avenue and separated the pair. The woman, 21, sat on the bumper of the patrol car. The man, 25, sat on a curb near the entrance to a convenience store.

What was going on?

The woman said she was annoyed because a clerk at the store demanded her ID when she tried to buy a lottery ticket. She said she wasn’t having a problem with the man on the curb.

The officer spoke to the man, and asked for identification. The man said he didn’t have it on him. He gave a name that started with “Christopher.”

The officer spoke to the man, and asked for identification. The man said he didn’t have it on him. He gave a name that started with “Christopher.”

A moment later, the woman blurted a question to the man: “Corey, can I have a cigarette?”

Turning back to the man, the officer noticed a change in position. Instead of sitting, the man was crouching. As the officer stepped forward to cuff him, the man bolted.

The chase ended after about 100 yards. The man slowed down. The officer caught up and cuffed him.

The man gave up his real name. Asked why he ran, he said he knew he had an arrest warrant. The officer checked and found a no-bail warrant for possession of stolen property. The man was booked into the Pierce County Jail on the warrant and suspicion of obstructing an officer.

Aug. 8: Sometimes the most meaningful encounters end unfinished.

Two Tacoma officers on patrol in the 6100 block of North 15th Street noticed a silver 1999 BMW 323, parked in the fire lane of an apartment complex.

Drawing closer, they saw two people in the car: a man and a woman, both apparently unconscious.

The man dozed in the passenger seat. His pants were down to his thighs, his left hand on the sleeping woman. An open beer sat in the console between the seats, along with a bottle of vodka, nearly empty.

The man dozed in the passenger seat. His pants were down to his thighs, his left hand on the sleeping woman. An open beer sat in the console between the seats, along with a bottle of vodka, nearly empty.

One officer knocked on the window. No response.

On either side of the car, the officers opened the doors. The man and the woman stirred.

The man, 34, said the woman was his girlfriend, and she was dropping him off.

Did he live at the complex?

Yes, the man said. He and his girlfriend were messing around in the car because the man lived with his two children and his mother.

Yes, they had been drinking in the car, he said, and parked for some time. He hadn’t noticed it was a no-parking zone.

A records check on the man revealed an active arrest warrant. Officers booked him into the Pierce County Jail. The woman was released. The man’s father re-parked the BMW.

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